Siamese Twins

Now known as Conjoined Twins, the twins in Freaks were Daisy and Violet Hilton and were the first to be born in the UK who survived for more than a few weeks.

When I looked up the lives of the stars, I never expected to find anything but a happy story for these pretty girls but in fact their story is the most heartbreaking I found.

They were born in Brighton in 1908 to an unmarried woman who sold them to her employer, Mary Hilton. Mary spent the next 15 or so years beating performances out of the girls as they toured circuses and side shows in the US, preventing them from talking to anyone or making friends. When she died, Violet and Daisy were passed on to her daughter and her husband who were no better. When they were 23 they eventually managed to get a few minutes alone with a lawyer, and told him of their predicament. They sued their caretakers/captors and went into vaudeville for a while, each having a string of affairs and a short-lived marriage each after Violet originally had much difficulty obtaining a marriage licence since Daisy was not also engaged.

In 1962 with their popularity and thus their money-making abilities waning, they were dumped with no money at a drive-in theatre in North Carolina by their agent. Ever resourceful they managed to find jobs in a grocery store, until in 1969 they failed to show up to work or answer the phone. They were found dead in their apartment from Hong Kong flu. Daisy had died first, followed possibly up to a few days later by Violet.

I wasn't able to find a decent clip on youtube but they have a rather charming scene in the film where one of the twins is reading a book and the other is being proposed to by another circus performer. She assures him that her sister is unable to feel him touching her but the expression on her sisters face when he kisses her says differently!